Mohammad Asif humbles Asjad to draw quarterfinal lineup in National Snooker Championship
Top seed Asjad Iqbal and fourth seed Shahid Aftab fall as the quarterfinal line up completed in Jubilee Insurance 43rd National Snooker Championship at the Karachi Gymkhana.
Second seed Mohammad Asif, third seed Mohammad Bilal, sixth seed Zulfiqar A Qadir, eight seed Babar Masih along with unseeded and well deserving quartet of Mohammad Ahsan Javaid, Punjab cup qualifier Ali Haider, Wildcard holder Mohammad Majid Ali and Sindh cup qualifier Sultan Mohammad moved into the quarterfinals of the championship.
Best of nine frames quarterfinal round started today.
Former world champion Mohammad Asif played another composed break of 115 in the first frame as he sent packing the top ace Asjad Iqbal 5-3 and moved into last eight in the championship. This was his second century break in two days.
He also cracked a break of 132 against Mohammad Umair on Saturday also surpassed 129 break set-up by Mubashir Raza against Mohammad Ishtiaq.
Apart from century break 115, he played some more elegant breaks of 58, 51, 91 and 50 in the second, third, seventh and eighth frame to rout his opponent. Asjad Iqbal fought back after conceding three consecutive frames and leveled the match to 3-3 but former world champion kept his cool to win the last two frames and crossed the line by 126-1, 65-46, 66-13, 58-61, 0-84, 7-61, 91-8, 80-29.
Mohammad Asif will now face local player Zulfiqar A Qadir in the quarterfinal. Zulfiqar downs KPK’s qualifier Aakash Rafique 4-0 in straight frames by 81-16, 93-49, 73-10, 83-8, 82-37.
Ahsan Javaid shocks tournament’s fourth seed and former national champion Shahid Aftab 5-2 by 12-69, 36-77, 81-15, 61-44, 73-23, 77-42, 75-0. Ahsan was down to 2 frames but then he registered his strong comeback and won the next 5 successive frames to win the match.
Ahsan will now face former national and tournament’s third seed Mohammad Bilal who outplayed Punjab cup qualifier Qadeer Abbas 5-4 to reach into the last eight in the pre-quarter finals.
Bilal thrashed his opponent by 5-4 as he also played a century break of 103 in the last frame. Bilal started the match winning the two frames but then he faced strong resistance from opponent as he leveled the match to 2 all. The match was like see-saw as Bilal won the 5th frame but Qadeer wins the 6th frame to equalize it 3-3. 7th frame saw epic battle between the two which was finally won by Bilal with a score of 51-50 but once again Qadeer won the 8th frame to level the score at 4-4.
Match moved to the last frame and then the veteran player showed his talent as he scored a century break to register the win by 121-7 and also qualifies for the quarterfinals.
Title holder of world under-18 championship who also holds the title of under-21 under his belt Mohammad Naseem Akhter get defeated by Punjab qualifier Ali Haider by 5-3.
Displaying sterling performance, Haider sent Nassem home by 48-52, 78-21, 75-40, 85-0, 69-12, 15-60, 51-62, 56-55.
Haider will play against Babar Masih in the quarterfinal who outplayed Sindh cup champion Sohail Shahzad 5-2 with a score of 69-30, 76-35, 58-66, 58-68, 101-21, 97-29, 60-12.
In an all-Sindh pre-quarterfinal, Sultan Mohammad overpowered Abdul Sattar 5-3 by 36-50, 6-62, 70-39, 61-37, 70-20, 32-92, 63-48, 68-56 and will now face Wildcard holder Majid who also sent packing Sindh cup runner-up Agha Bilalwal 5-3 by 39-77, 71-61, 32-67, 72-57, 78-24, 57-48, 36-55, 62-36.
Results:
Pre-quarter-finals:
| 1 | Mohammad Bilal (Punjab) | def. | Qadeer Abbas (Punjab) | 5-4 (59-34, 73-40, 57-60, 49-71, 85-13, 18-65, 51-50, 42-81, 121-7) |
| 2 | Mohammad Ahsan Javaid (Punjab) | def. | Shahid Aftab (Punjab) | 5-2 (12-69, 36-77, 81-15, 61-44, 73-23, 77-42, 75-0) |
| 3 | Ali Haider (Punjab) | def. | Mohammad Naseem Akhtar (Punjab) | 5-3 (48-52, 78-21, 75-40, 85-0, 69-12, 15-60, 51-62, 56-55) |
| 4 | Babar Masih (Punjab) | def. | Sohail Shahzad (Sindh) | 5-2 (69-30, 76-35, 58-66, 58-68, 101-21, 97-29, 60-12) |
| 5 | Mohammad Asif (Punjab) | def. | Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) | 5-3 (126-1, 65-46, 66-13, 58-61, 0-84, 7-61, 91-8, 80-29) |
| 6 | Zulfiqar A. Qadir (Sindh) | def. | Aakash Rafique (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) | 5-0 (81-16, 93-49, 73-10, 83-8, 82-37) |
| 7 | Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) | def. | Agha Bilawal (Sindh) | 5-3 (39-77, 71-61, 32-67, 72-57, 78-24, 57-48, 36-55, 62-36) |
| 8 | Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) | def. | Abdul Sattar (Sindh) | 5-3 (36-50, 6-62, 70-39, 61-37, 70-20, 32-92, 63-48, 68-56) |
